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Added on the 17/09/2019 11:18:23 - Copyright : Euronews EN
During a press conference with Belgian PM Alexander de Croo and Polish Pm Donald Tusk, EU chief, Ursula Von der Leyen, announces that aid for Poland frozen over rule-of-law row has now been unblocked. SOUNDBITE
EU Commission spokesperson Anitta Hipper says during a briefing in Brussels that the EU has launched action against Hungary after Budapest passed laws it says are intended to "protect Hungary's sovereignty" and curb foreign influence. SOUNDBITE
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen says Poland will only receive the money from its 35.4-billion euro ($38 billion) post-Covid economic recovery package if it carries out rule of law reforms. She says the EU's approval of the plan announced on Wednesday is "important" but only "a first step, as the money will be disbursed when the reforms and investments are in place". SOUNDBITE
The United States vows to keep promoting human rights in Turkey, while also calling for cooperation, after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to expel the ambassador over his advocacy. "We will continue to promote the rule of law and respect for human rights globally," State Department spokesperson Ned Price tells reporters during a briefing in Washington, DC. SOUNDBITE
Kenya's Court of Appeal will deliver its verdict Friday on the president's controversial three-year quest to change the constitution, a ruling that could shake up the political landscape less than a year before elections. The so-called Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) seeks notably to dilute the current winner-takes-all electoral system blamed by Kenyatta for poll unrest, by expanding the executive and parliament. IMAGES
Hundreds of people attend the Budapest Pride march ahead of the country's referendum on a controversial anti-LGBTQ legislation. Hungary's right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that a national vote will be held to gauge domestic support for the law, which includes a ban on the "depiction or promotion" of homosexuality and gender reassignment to under-18s. IMAGES